Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 498

Nowness: Exploring Architecture through Dance

'Nine dancers become one in a poetic exploration of an ominous construction  as Paris-based filmmaker Adrien Dantou teams up with the LUMA Foundation and Benjamin Millepied's LA Dance Project to explore Parc des Ateliers—an expansive cultural center being developed in Arles, France, by LUMA, alongside architects Frank Gehry and Annabelle Selldorf.'-- NOWNESS

Alondra Nelson: Genetic Testing Is Recreating Bonds Broken by Slavery

'“These tests at their best allow new forms of connection that might not have been otherwise possible,” says Alondra Nelson, President of the Social Science Research Council. Though African American communities experienced a troubled history with genetics, primarily through eugenics, individuals are now using DNA testing to answer questions about their ancestors and connect with their African heritage. Interviewed at the 2017 Aspen Ideas Festival, Nelson discusses how biology can provide information once lost through the transatlantic slave trade.' -- The Atlantic
 

#APeoplesJourney: African American Women and the Struggle for Equality

'African American women have always been part of the African American struggle for full equality. Learn how early freedom fighters like Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, and Anna Julia Cooper fought against multiple oppressions. Scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw explains how the intersections of these oppressions manifest today in the term she coined, "intersectionality." Voiced by Jouelzy and Kimberlé Crenshaw.' -- NMAAHC

Writing Mississippi: Jesmyn Ward Salvages Stories Of The Silenced

'Jesmyn Ward's books are set in the poor, black Mississippi community where she grew up, a place where, she says, "the past bears very heavily on the present." Those struggles, hinging on race and class, run all through her writing, from her novel Salvage the Bones, which won Ward a National Book Award in 2011; to her searing memoir Men We Reaped, published in 2013; to her new novel, Sing, Unburied, Sing.' -- All Things Considered

Nigerian Writer Ayobami Adebayo on Her Debut Novel 'Stay With Me'

'Nigerian Writer Ayobami Adebayo discusses her debut novel, Stay With Me, the haunting tale of a young couple whose childless marriage tears them apart. It was shortlisted for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction and hailed by Michiko Kakutani as "powerfully magnetic and heartbreaking."' -- New York Public Library 

Wadada Leo Smith -- Elegy: "Emmett Till: Defiant, Fearless"

'Jazz Night in America recorded Wadada Leo Smith performing his original composition "Emmett Till: Defiant, Fearless" in tribute while canoeing under the Black Bayou Bridge in Glendora, Miss. on April 25th, 2017.'

Politics and Prose Presents Ibram X. Kendi in Conversation with Wesley Lowery

'Ibram Kendi, author of the National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, is in conversation with Wesley Lowery, a national correspondent for The Washington Post and author of They Can't Kill Us All.'

What's Good with Stretch & Bobbito: Stevie Wonder Reflects on Motown, God & Prince

'On this episode of What's Good with Stretch & Bobbito — featuring special guest, renowned producer and Stevie evangelist DJ Spinna — Stevie Wonder talks about almost getting dropped from Motown Records, campaigning for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, how he knew Barack Obama would become president and missing Prince.' -- What's Good with Stretch & Bobbito

Lizz Wright - "Nearness of You" - Ella Fitzgerald Tribute

'Lizz Wright performs a rendition of the classic song “Nearness of You” on the occasion of the centennial of Ella Fitzgerald’s birth.' -- Event Buzz Media

What If the Internet Could Not Tell a Lie? Blockchain, Fake News, Rumor Mills

'Imagine a world where facts rule the Internet, and lies and rumors are stripped of their disguises before they can do damage. That's actually possible, explains tech expert Brian Behlendorf, the executive director of the Hyperledger Project (who was also a primary developer of the Apache HTTP Server, the most widely used web server in the world). Although a completely truthful Internet might be dull, and a little totalitarian, it would be sweet relief for all digital citizens if someone could end fake news. Distributed ledger technology like Blockchain could do that, says Behlendorf, by changing the way organizations collect and store data. If data were decentralized or transparent on an unmodifiable Blockchain, it would be almost impossible to attack the source or integrity of someone's data on that open ledger.' -- Big Think